Egg Hunt
by MissJayne
Summary: Holidays never go smoothly and Easter is no exception. "He wasn't sure what he should be more worried about: the fact he was going along with this or the fact she was clearly amused by the whole situation." Jibbs, Lily!


_Thanks to my beta Kristen! Happy Easter everyone!_

_A/N: This is a fusion of several things I have been ordered to do. Charlotte requested Gibbs' outfit and MrsScott323 gave me a way to get Gibbs into that outfit… And I was amused to discover while researching this that my British family celebrate Easter in an American way. Hmm._

Egg Hunt

Jennifer Shepard sighed as one of her daughters tried to roll off the bed. Normally she didn't mind Camilla's antics; they made her smile. Unfortunately, her twin sister Rose was trying to roll off the other side of the bed, as though they had worked out a plan so that one of them would hit the floor.

And it didn't help that Jethro was nowhere to be found. He was so good with his children. He had taken to fatherhood again much better than she had expected him to, showing her a lot of little tricks to help out. But now he was missing in action. She didn't have a clue where he could be.

She sighed again, catching Rose in one hand and darting around the bed to catch Camilla. It wasn't as though she was trying to hurt them; she was attempting to get them dressed for the little party they were having later.

It was a tradition from her childhood. Her mother had hidden painted boiled eggs all over the house and garden, and it had been her job to find every last one. After her mother's death, the tradition had been ignored.

Now with her own two children, she had decided to resurrect the tradition. Having realized it wouldn't be much fun for just her thirteen month old infants, she had promptly invited Gibbs' team and Abby around as well. She hadn't been aware of the effort that this seemed to take though. She and Jethro had spent the previous night boiling eggs and painting them.

But it had made her smile. She felt she was doing the right thing.

"Camilla," she groaned as the girl squirmed. "You need to let me dress you."

"Mama," the little girl replied.

Jenny couldn't help the smile that came over her face. "Yes. Now sit still."

"Dada?" Camilla tried.

"Not here." Jenny didn't know if she could understand, but chose to believe she could. Luckily, Camilla decided to stop squirming.

"LeeLee," came the final word in her repertoire.

"Not here either," Jenny answered.

She wasn't sure whether to be happy or dismayed that her irresponsible sister wasn't present. On the one hand, Lily could dress the twins in her sleep and had no problem with keeping them amused while Jenny herself tried to deal with more important things. On the other side, Lily's idea of amusement involved explosives and mayhem. Only yesterday she had been caught attempting to slide the twins down the stairs on a makeshift sled.

While the twins had seemed to enjoy the prospect of broken necks, Jethro had viewed it in a different light and removed her from the house again. Jenny felt this was a good thing; she didn't fancy refereeing a fight between her sister and her lover.

"Mama," Rose announced, determined to outdo her sister.

"Good girl," Jenny praised, thankful that both of them seemed to be settling down.

Although with Lily also due later, she wasn't sure how long her run of good luck would last. And where was Jethro?

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs shot his best glare in the direction of the redhead. He knew it wasn't worth it – shooting death glares at a woman who was threatened with various types of torture and death every day wouldn't affect her in the slightest – but it made him feel better.

He was sorely tempted to wring her neck, but Lily had cleverly stayed on the other side of his basement while she smirked. He also knew she was armed and would happily put a bullet in him. Considering what she was up to, he thought a bullet would be preferable.

He wasn't sure how she had found out or even managed to get her hands on a copy of the evidence, but deep down he wasn't surprised. She was capable of just about anything. There was an evil streak a mile wide running through her.

"Put the costume on," she ordered, grinning. He briefly wondered whether she would start cackling in a moment.

He glared back at her. "Stop enjoying this so much," he demanded.

"Please." Her grin grew wider. "I'm only doing this for my nieces."

He fought the urge to point out she was really doing it for her own enjoyment. He wasn't sure what he should be more worried about: the fact he was going along with this or the fact she was clearly amused by the whole situation. She had definitely been planning this for a while, judging by the videotape and the outfit she had brought with her.

And to add to his misery, he knew that she knew his whole team would be present at Jenny's house later. Not that she cared: she'd hauled him out of bed at 0300 and insisted she had to show him something in his own house. He was glad she had; there was no way he was letting Jenny see what Lily had uncovered.

While he tried to come up with novel ways of killing her in his head, he continued to pull the costume on.

"You look good," she told him, examining him from all angles.

He continued to glare at her. "An Easter bunny costume?" he queried.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I saw it in the store and knew you'd look perfect in it. Although perhaps…"

He resisted the urge to run out of his own basement as he watched the cogs in her head turn. Lily's ideas usually ended in trouble for all concerned. He eyed her cautiously as she pulled her makeup from her bag.

"Pity they didn't have a mask," she grinned.

He took several steps back, the time she had tied him up and put lipstick on him still fresh in his mind. He really should find out where those particular photos were being kept…

She pouted. "It doesn't hurt," she pointed out. "And it'll look good."

He glared at her again. "No…" He waved his hands at the implements she was holding.

"Do you want me to show Jenny that video of you dancing really badly?" she asked, knowing his answer. "You look like an embarrassing father at a disco. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when I saw it."

Silently cursing her blackmail, he took a step towards her. Next time he was sure she was out of the country, he was going to have to search her apartment.

* * *

Jenny smiled as she opened her front door, Rose on her hip and Camilla clinging onto her legs. Her guests were as punctual as she had expected them to be.

Tony stood at the front of the group, a wide grin on his face. Jenny wasn't sure if he was more excited about the possible chocolate for him in the future, or about the opportunity to see her and Jethro in an unprofessional environment.

Abby had already darted inside, snatching Camilla up and twirling her around. Judging from the squeals coming from the little girl, she didn't mind. Jethro had already declared that the twins' next word was going to be 'Abby'. Even Tony had joined in on the betting.

McGee stood behind Tony, looking as nervous as ever. Jenny wasn't sure why; he had more than proved himself in her eyes. She reminded herself to keep an eye on him for the day and make sure he relaxed.

Ziva was the last adult of the group, standing at the back. She was wearing a T shirt that Abby had given her for Christmas. Jenny had been unable to stop laughing when she had seen it as it summed her friend up perfectly. It proclaimed '_I am a bomb disposal expert. If you see me running, please try to keep up_'.

And holding Ziva's hand was a young boy. Jasper Thompson was an expected guest at the party, but he was supposed to arrive with Lily. She didn't normally leave her son with someone else…

The redhead began to suspect that Jethro was with Lily as she stepped back to allow everyone to pass. It was the only reason she could come up with as to why both of them were missing while Jasper was present. She was beginning to dread whatever her sister was up to. If Lily ruined the party in any way, she would set Ziva on her.

"How does this work?" Ziva stood in the middle of the hall, engaged in a tug-of-war over Camilla.

Jenny immediately handed Rose to Ziva to satisfy both women's maternal instincts. "Jasper?" she asked.

The boy knew what she meant. Lily had tried to follow the old Easter traditions for the past few years, usually failing miserably due to being on a different continent. But the nine year old understood the rules.

"Aunt Jenny's hidden some painted boiled eggs all over the house and the garden," he announced. "And we have to find them."

"How many are there?" Ziva instantly questioned.

Jenny decided to jump in. "Five each for Camilla and Rose. Those ones are red and yellow, and should be easy to locate. Jasper has ten and his are blue."

"Don't we get any?" Tony whined.

"And there might be some green ones," Jenny pretended to recall.

"Green?" Abby turned up her nose.

"I made some black ones especially for you," Jenny reassured her.

* * *

Ziva David bounced Rose on her hip as they searched the study together. She did not consider herself to be an exceptional parenting figure, but her 'nieces' seemed to enjoy being around her.

Her feelings for the twins were complex. On one level, she adored them. They were so cute and innocent. She would happily watch them attempting to toddle around a room, and couldn't wait for them to take their first steps unaided. She planned to teach them all about boys and how to look after themselves.

And yet she had been brought up to be a warrior. She could kill a man with a staple in fifteen different ways, but she knew nothing about childcare. Her life revolved around weapons and fighting. She had never had the dream of being a mother when she was a child herself.

Rose gurgled in her ear and pointed towards a yellow egg at the centre of Jenny's desk. Ziva couldn't help her smile. At least one of them understood this game.

She wasn't sure where the others were. She thought McGee and Jenny might be in the garden with Jasper. Abby had Camilla and was likely running around everywhere like a hurricane. And from the heavy footsteps above her, she guessed Tony was attempting to snoop around.

She thought it wise that Jenny had declared her bedroom out of bounds.

The front door opening caught her attention, and she cautiously approached the study door. It was a pity Rose was sitting in the way of her gun…

But it was Lily entering the house. And someone else.

"The Easter bunny's here," Lily called loudly.

Gibbs looked as though he wanted to strangle Lily with his bare hands. Ziva could see why; the image of Gibbs in a white bunny outfit was going to be keeping her amused for quite some time. Rose seemed to recognize her father and reached out for him.

Tony came bounding down the stairs, grinning with delight when he caught sight of Gibbs. Ziva suspected the only reason he wasn't going for his camera was that he knew Gibbs would destroy all the evidence of this.

Jenny laughed when she saw Gibbs, although she tried to turn it into a coughing fit. Ziva went over to join her, and was unsurprised when Abby appeared and promptly took a photograph of Gibbs on her cell phone. She had a funny feeling that photo would make its all the way around the Navy Yard by the end of tomorrow.

"Happy?" Gibbs growled at Lily.

The smirk on Lily's face said it all. "Perfect."

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs observed his family as they relaxed in the garden. He was still wearing the appalling costume after Lily had made a few not so subtle threats.

His adopted family were all enjoying chocolate eggs. Tony had made an attempt to steal McGee's egg, only to be foiled by a tackle from Ziva. Abby had joined in and they had mock-fought for a little while.

His other family were enjoying themselves as well. Being too young for chocolate, Camilla and Rose were playing with their stuffed bunnies. Although playing wasn't perhaps the best term – Camilla was sucking on an ear while Rose was trying to throw hers as far away as possible. Jenny was sharing a chocolate egg with Jasper, and seemed to be having a discussion about traditional Easter greetings. And Lily had fallen asleep in the shade.

Tempted though he was to locate a black marker and scrawl on her face, he decided to leave her alone. There was no telling what she would do to him in revenge. And anyway, she was a light sleeper. She would probably wake up halfway through his artwork and 'accidently' punch him in the face.

"We should have invited Ducky," Abby declared, finally leaving Tony alone and joining the twins.

"We did," Jenny answered. "He wanted to spend the time with his mother."

"He could have brought Mrs. Mallard along," Abby wondered.

Tony shuddered. "I think we've coped well without her," he announced. "She might be a lovely old dear, but I suspect she'd be boiling the twins by now."

"That's my job." Lily's eyes were still closed but she appeared to be awake now.

Abby gasped in mock shock. "If you harm one hair on their heads, I'll… I'll…"

"I just like playing with them," Lily defended. "I wouldn't actually hurt them."

"Out of curiosity," McGee piped up. "How did you get Gibbs to dress up?"

Lily grinned as she sat up.

"Don't even think about it," Gibbs warned, furious that she could blackmail him and then still reveal the video.

"Do you remember that video, Jenny?" Lily asked, completely ignoring him as usual.

"Which one?" her sister replied.

"Peterson's wedding, '97 I think," Lily mused. "The one we watched over a pint of ice cream."

"We've watched a lot of videos over pints of ice cream." Jenny clearly didn't know what Lily was talking about, much to Gibbs' pleasure.

"The one with Gibbs dancing so badly that you spat your ice cream onto the floor and then struggled to breathe for the next half an hour?"

The garden erupted into laughter. Gibbs glared at Lily – something that went unnoticed by the redhead because she had yet to glance in his direction.

"I might remember that one," Jenny grinned. "You'll have to dig it out for me."

"Can I have a copy?" Tony inquired immediately.

"No," Gibbs answered.

Lily opened her mouth to disagree but Jenny beat her to it. "That's a 'no' from Lily as well," she warned.

The redhead didn't seem to mind. "Fine. I'll still dig it out though. It ranks in the Top Ten of embarrassing LJ videos."

"It's not number one?" Tony queried.

"Not even close." Lily smirked at him, and he decided he really was going to search her apartment. As soon as possible.

And hopefully he might find some dirt on her in the process.

THE END


End file.
